Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson CXLIII · Topic 22: Weeds and wayside plants
143. The dandelion
Goal: Your child watches dandelions through a day and through their life, and lists the ways they “conquer” in spite of us.
You'll need
- Nature notebook, pencil and colored pencils
- A hand lens (magnifying glass)
- A trowel
- A watch or clock
- A ruler
What's in the book
A Teacher's Story about the dandelion and the lesson: Leading thought, Method and fourteen questions, starting with a note that all the florets have banners.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Dandelions are on lawns and roadsides from early spring to late fall. Use your own yard or a place where digging is allowed.
The leading thought
The dandelions flourish despite our determined efforts to exterminate them. Let us study the way in which they conquer.
Short stems and long
Where do you find dandelions growing? If they are on the lawn, how long are their blossom or seed stems? If in a meadow or among high grass, how long is the blossom stem? Why is this?
Lion's teeth and the root
Why was the plant named “lion's teeth?”
Dig up one dandelion with the trowel and measure the root. Say: Why is it so hard to pull a dandelion out for good?
Sleeping and waking
What happens to the dandelion blossom on rainy or dark days?
Note at what hour the dandelions on the lawn go to sleep and at what hour they awaken on pleasant days?
Check the same plant morning, noon and evening, as Comstock suggests.
The seed globe
Look at a dandelion-head full of seed, and see how the seeds are arranged to make a perfect globe.
Look at one seed with the lens: the parachute, its long stalk, and the little seed with tiny hooks at the bottom. Then blow!
Sum it up
Tell all the things that you can remember which the dandelion does in order to live and thrive in spite of us.
Your child narrates the list aloud: long root, flat leaves, short stems on lawns, closing in rain, parachutes...
Nature notebook
Draw a dandelion plant with its whole root, a flower-head, a seed globe and one seed enlarged.
Afterwards
Make notes on one dandelion plant three times a day for a few days, as Comstock suggests: how long it takes to open, how long it stays open, and how many days until it turns to seed.
Tip
Comstock's last question asks what use we make of dandelions. Talk about it, but in nature study we don't eat what we pick.